Best Laid Plans
by LianneZ4
Summary: AU to the Pilot. Neal escapes prison to find Kate, but things don't go according to the plan.


**BEST LAID PLANS**

 **Summary:** AU to the Pilot. Neal escapes prison to find Kate, but things don't go according to the plan.

 _ **A/N:**_ _Written for runthecon for ivorysilk's prompt._

* * *

In the end, it took six weeks of careful planning and meticulous preparations. All possible complications had to be considered, every little detail had to be figured out in order to give him the best odds at success. Even in his hurt, confusion and anger, Neal reigned in the urge to act rashly. If he was going to escape, then he better do it right.

Finally, it was time to act.

Alone in the staff bathroom, Neal checked his reflection in the small hand mirror. The time was right, everything was prepared, and he was not going to wait a single hour longer.

He grimaced at the rather ugly beard that hid his face. Then he picked up the scissors and started to cut.

o - o - o

Neal walked out of prison without a hitch. The music, freedom, the adrenaline that rushed through his veins made him feel more alive than he had in years. His smile came naturally to him and he used it to get a yellow jacket from a local stand; he let his joy give him energy and feed the natural charm that he already had.

Hotwiring the maintenance truck got him far enough, but it was only a matter of time before it was reported stolen, which was why Neal had picked the airport to switch vehicles. Soon he would be discovered missing, and there was a good chance that Peter Burke would be called on his case again. Even if he wasn't, it was well-known that most escapees contacted their wives, friends or family shortly after getting away. Neal's moment of surprise wouldn't last long, so he had to be fast – he had to get to Kate, talk to her and hopefully persuade her to leave with him before the Marshals or the FBI knocked on their door. He could not lose her again, not after all this time.

 _Kate._

Something clenched painfully at the bottom of Neal's stomach. But he laughed as he drove the car and felt the wind blowing in his hair; he was a gambler and he had betted everything today, and luck had to be on his side simply because losing was not an option.

He was half an hour away.

 _Hold on, babe, I'm coming…_

Neal thought about touching Kate for the first time in years; he thought about what he was going to tell her, how soft her skin would feel under his hands. Therefore, he barely saw the vehicle approaching him from the side before there was a crash and everything went black.

 _He was swimming. There was something important, but he couldn't remember what it was…_

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 _The world was a soft blue and white blur. His eyes flickered and some of the shapes became more clear, but then he got too tired and let them disappear._

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 _His eyelids shut and he drifted off again…_

o - o - o

"Ah, Mr. Caffrey. You're awake!"

The first thing Neal realized when he woke up was that he was lying in a bed, and that it was a different place than where he had spent the last four years. He opened his eyes and then immediately snapped them shut against the harsh light; he took some time before blinking slowly and opening them again, more carefully this time.

He took a deep breath, and then immediately coughed and gasped in pain – his chest hurt. Several sensations hit him at once – the smell of an antiseptic, something stiff under his upper back, the right side of his head itched and his right arm was oddly heavy. And then Neal tried to move and felt the familiar cold metal against his other wrist and his ankles…

"Don't! Calm down or you'll injure yourself."

It all clicked at once. His escape, his drive towards Kate's apartment, the other car and then…

"Hospital?" he managed to ask.

"You were hurt in a car crash," explained the nurse as she entered Neal's sphere of vision. "Among other things, you sustained a vertebral fracture, a broken arm and a cut on your head. I'll call your doctor to explain…"

A vertebral fracture… "You're saying… I hurt my spine?" The panic hit him; he yanked at the handcuffs, he wanted to sit up –

" _Mr. Caffrey!" –_

– but he wasn't listening, he had to get away, had to move, had to do _something_ –

" _Neal? Neal, calm down. Enough! Breathe!"_

Someone was holding his hand, talking at him, pushing him down…

Neal turned his head and gasped. "Peter?"

"You're going to be okay," said Peter, and Neal knew he should be upset, because Peter was there, he found him and now Neal lost Kate, he was going back to prison –

"Peter, my back–"

"It's all right. You're going to be okay," and Peter talked at him until the doctor arrived, and in the meantime Neal stared at the FBI agent and desperately clutched at his sleeve, listening to his calming words and never letting go.

o - o - o

"Don't try to run," Peter warned him again maybe an hour later. "I'm serious, Caffrey–"

"Don't worry Peter, there are risks even I won't take. But thanks for caring," said Neal absently as he stared at the wall. Then he glanced back at Peter and gave him a somewhat rueful smile.

Now that the agent had removed his cuffs, Neal used his healthy hand to pick at the front of his brace. He had been extremely relieved to hear that the fracture in his back hadn't caused any damage to his spinal chord. However, the doctor explained that it would take at least eight weeks, but possibly even three months to heal, and he would need to wear the brace for most of that time. Even his transport to the prison hospital would have to wait for now, and as much as Neal longed for freedom, it was absolutely not worth the risk of becoming paralyzed. He almost shivered when he thought how lucky he had been, even in all his misfortune.

"So, I guess you were going to see Kate?" asked Peter at last.

"I knew you'd figure it out," Neal chuckled, even though it was really not funny. His chance to see Kate was gone and he would pay dearly for his escape, but he could not, would not think of that now.

"How's the person from the other car?" he asked instead.

"Two people, actually. They're a bit shaken up, but otherwise okay," Peter replied, and Neal felt a bit more relieved. From what he remembered, he hadn't been responsible for the accident, but it was still good to know that the other people weren't seriously injured.

But then his mind wandered back to his former line of thought. He didn't really want to ask, but he needed to know…

"So if you went to her apartment, did you talk to her? To Kate?"

The agent sighed. "Look, Caffrey…"

"Please, Peter, I'm already heading back to prison. I need to know if… Did she say something? About me?"

Peter gave him a long look. "She wasn't there," he said at last. "She had moved out of the apartment two days before you escaped."

 _She left…_ "Did she leave something behind? A message, anything?"

"Just an empty wine bottle."

"Any special bottle? Was it an '82 Bordeaux?"

"Maybe… It was a Bordeaux, though I can't remember the year," replied Peter thoughtfully. "Why, does that mean something to you?"

It was as if an ice fist had clenched his heart. _'Kate…'_

"It's goodbye," said Neal. "That's what the bottle means."

Peter nodded slowly. "So you earned yourself several more years in prison and almost killed yourself–"

"Well, I didn't plan for being in a car accident," said Neal sharply.

"The best laid plans, huh?" Peter raised his eyebrows.

Neal shook his head. "Please… could you just go now?"

The agent glanced at the unlocked cuffs. "The Marshalls are still there. I'll be right behind the door."

"I won't climb out the window, if that's what you think," said Neal bitingly.

Peter opened his mouth. Then he closed it again and shook his head before walking out of the room.

o - o - o

It had been five days since his conversation with Peter, and Neal was still wallowing in grief and bitterness.

 _Four years._ He had waited nearly four years, he had done all but three months of his time, and now he was looking at doing them again, if not more. And he could not even say it had been worth it – if Kate had always been lost to him, then finding out three months later wouldn't have changed anything. _Except now he was heading back to Sing Sing and he would have to go through it all over again._

He had a week, maybe ten days before the doctors declared him ready for transport. He didn't know what he was going to do then. His earlier talk with Peter had given him a vague shadow of an idea, but so far it wasn't coming together in the way he needed, and Neal didn't even know if the agent would be willing to hear him out when he had nothing to offer him but empty promises and his smarts and charm.

It was half past nine in the evening and Neal was reading through a law article, trying to find a precedent that he could show Peter if he decided to propose the whole scheme to him. He barely looked up when the door opened and a nurse walked in.

And then he froze.

" _Kate?!"_

She was wearing a lab coat, glasses and a wig, but it was undeniably her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm so sorry…." She took off her wig, the glasses and tossed them at the bedside table. Then she bent down and kissed him, a kiss that was light but long and as sweet as unexpected.

Then she pulled back, and Neal saw the pain and determination in her eyes as she pulled over a chair and sat down. "I had to do this. How are you doing, babe?"

"I've been better," Neal replied honestly. His smile came easily, and he felt real joy despite his confusion – what was she doing here? What was going on? He took her hand in his, and then hesitated. "Kate…"

"You have no idea how good it is to see you… I don't have much time." Neal watched as she pulled a pen out of her lab coat; she opened it and showed him a small battery and a wire… _A transmitter? What was going on?_

"After the crash, I told him I either see you, or I'm done. I told him we had to bring you in–"

"He?" asked Neal sharply.

"Neal, we're being blackmailed," Kate explained as she showed the pen back into her coat.

"What? How?"

Kate shrugged. "Old history," and Neal nodded that he understood; some things were better not discussed in the open.

"Who is it? What do they want?"

"Remember when you told me about going to France and then you and Alex left?"

Neal frowned. "Wait, you mean they want…"

"Exactly," said Kate before he could say it aloud.

 _The music box._

Neal shook his head; none of this made sense. "Why did you leave me at prison?"

Kate let out a frustrated laugh. "Remember when you told me it would take you a week to break out of that place?"

"Kate–"

"Plan A. I knew you'd break out – or so I thought. After six weeks, I thought you've decided to wait, so I left. The bottle was a precaution, a plan B, but you didn't get there to find it. Plan C, I took them to San Diego to give them what they wanted, but the place was empty."

"Kate, I'm looking at another four or five years–"

"I _know_ ," she snapped and wiped away an angry tear. "One step at a time, okay? The item…"

"So what's plan D?" Neal asked.

"This," said Kate openly. "Telling you what's going on. We give it to them and then this is over."

 _And wasn't that the perfect irony._

The best laid plans, thought Neal with bitter amusement – his escape, Kate's plotting, the mysterious man behind the curtain, all of them fell apart. _And he didn't have the box._

But should they let their blackmailer know that?

"What if I say I don't have it?" asked Neal sarcastically, but his eyes bore into Kate's. _'I don't have it.'_

She paled. "Oh please, Neal, as if anyone would believe that," she answered with a laugh, and Neal immediately translated her answer.

' _Don't let them know.'_

He lifted his eyebrows. Did Kate really think stalling was their best shot?

She gave him a subtle nod. Maybe be would argue with her, but right now she knew the situation better.

 _Okay, then._

"Then tell them I want to meet whoever is behind this," said Neal. "And that I won't talk to them from prison, so they can come here to talk to me." _Let's draw them in the open._

Kate didn't seem to like that strategy, but then their careful plans had all failed. Maybe it was time for something a bit different.

Kate smiled at him. "You know, after all the time, it's weird when it's just the two of us again." Her tone was loving, but her body language told a different story…

' _Do we involve someone else?'_

That wasn't a bad idea, actually.

"I know," said Neal with a laugher of his own. "You remember that time in Florida? The beaches, the sun…"

Mozzie had saved their asses there after Neal screwed up. _Contact Moz._

Kate nodded again; message received.

She glanced at her wristwatch. "I got to go," she said and stood up.

"Pass on my message," said Neal.

"I will," Kate promised as she put the wig and glasses back on. "I love you."

"Love you too."

They were going to get through this, somehow.

Neal waited until the door closed behind her. Then he began to plot and plan…

o - o - o

A week later, Neal's back was still in the brace and he still wore the cast on his left hand. However, the doctors were pleased with his x-ray that day, so his transport would probably be tomorrow.

Neal hadn't heard yet from their mysterious blackmailer. On the other hand, Mozzie had somehow managed to sneak in, both to visit and to pass a message that Kate had contacted him. The rest of their plan would depend on how the next few days turned out.

Peter Burke promised to see him in a few hours. Once again, Neal went over his speech and his materials – the Dutchman. The anklet. His winning personality. He would explain that Peter really didn't know how lucky he was that he had the chance to make Neal into his CI.

 _Whoever was coming after them, he could not let Kate face him alone while he rotted in Sing Sing._

It wasn't his best scheme, but maybe, just maybe, it would work.

 **THE END**


End file.
